Competition at CB for the Patriots Will Be Intense

Competition at CB for the Patriots Will Be Intense

Steve Balestrieri

Between the draft and signing UDFAs, the Patriots have added four new faces at corner and should be looking at some great competition this summer.

Continue reading...

Like the early 2000's, I think guys who get cut won't be unemployed long as other teams scour the Pats' waiver wire. Wouldn't shock me if a few get traded at the end of camp for a 6th or 7hth rounder.. You know those 6th rounders never amount to anything anyway....

WR and OG will be intense competitions as well. This might be the most competitive camp the Pats have ever had. Most of their cuts will probably be nabbed by other teams.

....meanwhile at running back, players will join TC late -August.

I don't see intense competition. UDFAs at corner? Only if they worked at Popeyes. Besides Hall of Famer in waiting Roberts, they drafted a nickel corner.

RayClay said:

I don't see intense competition. UDFAs at corner? Only if they worked at Popeyes. Besides Hall of Famer in waiting Roberts, they drafted a nickel corner.

Click to expand...

Intense competition, nobody gets to rest on their laurels. There will be several lookalike Butler wannabees in camp. Any of them could take a job away from a kid dreaming of Canton if he isn't hustling more than them today.

Besides, the really intense competition will be for returning kicks, and STs in general. Fun to watch!

Galeb said:

WR and OG will be intense competitions as well. This might be the most competitive camp the Pats have ever had. Most of their cuts will probably be nabbed by other teams.

Click to expand...

This reminds me a lot of the 2001 season. The Patriots brought in a ton of free agents to compete for positions, the results speak for themselves.

RayClay said:

I don't see intense competition. UDFAs at corner? Only if they worked at Popeyes. Besides Hall of Famer in waiting Roberts, they drafted a nickel corner.

Click to expand...

Roberts will be starting by Week 4.

I think trading Logan Ryan is not out of the question.

RayClay said:

I don't see intense competition. UDFAs at corner? Only if they worked at Popeyes. Besides Hall of Famer in waiting Roberts, they drafted a nickel corner.

Click to expand...

Butler almost certainly has the top spot nailed down, but I think there is good competition for 2nd and nickle corner, as well as depth. Roberts and Coleman showed promise and Cyrrus Jones is a great fit. One of them could challenge Logan Ryan to start. Biggers could win a spot as a role player and if one of the UDFAs/Late rounders catches on, that's some quality depth and good camp competition.

Nunchucks said:

This reminds me a lot of the 2001 season. The Patriots brought in a ton of free agents to compete for positions, the results speak for themselves.

Click to expand...

Yes. Yes, they do.

Galeb said:

Butler almost certainly has the top spot nailed down, but I think there is good competition for 2nd and nickle corner, as well as depth. Roberts and Coleman showed promise and Cyrrus Jones is a great fit. One of them could challenge Logan Ryan to start. Biggers could win a spot as a role player and if one of the UDFAs/Late rounders catches on, that's some quality depth and good camp competition.

Click to expand...

Reading the tea leaves....

Butler
Ryan*
Roberts
Jones
Coleman
UFA

*potentially traded

The Patriots appear to be spending a little more of their allotted UDFA bonus money this year and
are ending up with higher ranked players.

I would hope competition would be intense at every position!

It's projected to be intense. Everyone's high on that CB the Pats picked up but he's still undersized at 5'10".

archstanton543 said:

but he's still undersized at 5'10".

Click to expand...

meh average height at CB in the NFL is 5' 11". If the kid can, he can play 1" inch isn't gonna be the difference between him succeeding and failing.

robertweathers said:

Roberts will be starting by Week 4.

I think trading Logan Ryan is not out of the question.

Click to expand...

I think trading Ryan would be crazy. I like their young CBs but Butler is the only one who has actually proven himself. Even with Ryan they will only be in good shape if Coleman, Roberts, and Jones all play well this season. Ryan is probably gone after 2016 but it's better to get back really good season out of him and the comp pick than to just get rid of him. At this point in the offseason they should only be looking at winning another Lombardi and not building for the future.

Ivan said:

I think trading Ryan would be crazy. I like their young CBs but Butler is the only one who has actually proven himself. Even with Ryan they will only be in good shape if Coleman, Roberts, and Jones all play well this season. Ryan is probably gone after 2016 but it's better to get back really good season out of him and the comp pick than to just get rid of him. At this point in the offseason they should only be looking at winning another Lombardi and not building for the future.

Click to expand...

Disagree. They should always be looking at both. No reason those are mutually exclusive.

n6249c said:

Disagree. They should always be looking at both. No reason those are mutually exclusive.

Click to expand...

You can't deal a "cheap" starting cb if your backups don't have any experience.

n6249c said:

Disagree. They should always be looking at both. No reason those are mutually exclusive.

Click to expand...

We'll have to disagree because I don't think they should make any moves that weaken them for the coming season.

I was really surprised that they didn't bring back Tarell Brown. I thought he played really well up until his injury. Maybe 30+ year old CBs with historical foot problems isn't the best way to go about filling out the CB position but I thought he showed well

Regardless, I really like this secondary. Lots of quality depth at the S and CB positions with potential for young guys like Richards, Butler and Roberts to take that next step. I was pleasantly surprised at Ryan's performance in year 3 but I would not be surprised to see Roberts take his spot as the season progresses. Kid has a ton of potential and showed really well last year in TC.